I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to diets for humans. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dietary system for the treatment of obesity and for the lowering of saturated fats in the blood. The system includes a diet that restricts the patient to the intake of certain foods in certain amounts and combines this intake with specific supplements. The prescribed foods comprise those that are low in saturated fats and carbohydrates, those having moderate amounts of proteins, and oils high in monounsaturates and certain fatty acids. The supplements include selected vitamins and minerals.
II. Description of the Relevant Art
The patient presenting with obesity is known to require a modified diet to effect weight reduction. This same patient also typically presents with a high concentration of saturated fat in the blood.
In some cases the specific cause of obesity is identifiable, for example, were a tumor in the hypothalamus could stimulate overeating. However, as a general matter, obesity may occur for several reasons, and one or more causes in the same individual may be present simultaneously. Evidence supports the theory that some individuals have a predisposition to obesity, while other evidence suggests that environmental factors, such as eating habits, play an important role
Whatever the underlying psychological or physiological basis the common belief is that for most cases of obesity overeating or eating the "wrong" foods are the main avenues to weight gain. Accordingly, conventional approaches to resolving obesity include both behavior modification and diet modification. The former approach requires significant psychological adjustment with varying results and the latter is much more common and includes a broad array of diets with many plans producing instantaneous results but being unworkable and even counterproductive over time.
Most known dies fail, however, and, unfortunately, only a small percentage of obese people manage to maintain a reduced weight over a long period of time. Rather, the typical "dieter" follows a continuous cycle of weight loss followed by rapid regaining of the "lost" weight. The problem results from the fact that most diets only seek to modify the amount and type of intake not the way in which the body responds to the food.
This situation should not be not surprising. In addition to the "input" side of the obesity problem (attempting to control how much an what types of foods are consumed), there is the little-explored "output" side (attempting to control the way in which the "input" is utilized). Basal metabolism accounts for approximately 60% of energy expenditure in the average person. About 30% of energy expenditure is accounted for by muscular activity and the remaining 10% by the assimilation of food. It is conventionally held that energy loss through muscular activity is the only form of "output" that a person can control.
Beyond "common sense" regulation of the intake of foods, research into the problems of and solutions to obesity have shed little light on what diet could be used to modify the "output" side beyond the exercise component, that is, the metabolism of food. Current diet recommendations are based upon knowledge gained from carbohydrate metabolism experiments, and little has been done with respect to fat metabolisms.
Importantly, such diets run contrary to nature where it is known that some creatures are known to have acquired an adaptive advantage over others which allows them to live and, indeed, flourish in extreme conditions. The class Mammalia which, of course, includes our species, perhaps best characterizes adaptive advantage. The most important physical innovation of mammals is their evolution of temperature-control mechanisms that allows for the maintenance of a high and constant body temperature. This is possible because of the mammal's ability to store fat (or blubber) which provides excellent insulation and heat energy and also because of the heat-producing metabolic pathways. In non-human mammals, this advantage may be readily seen in "fat" polar bears and seals. Zoo animals normally residents of warmer climates begin to demonstrate the adaptive advantage of fat storage if left with their cool-climate fellows of the zoo into the fall. In fact, most animals demonstrate transient obesity, losing weight in the spring and summer and gaining weight in the fall. Humans have further demonstrated the presence of "survival metabolism" during times of fasting when the body responds to lowered food intake by lowering basal metabolism to conserve energy. This is another example of the ancient "ice age metabolism".
Even in plants nature complies with temperature changes by allowing the shuttling of the metabolism of plants when temperatures change. Plants normally store food from photosynthesis as starch and other complex carbohydrates toward the production of cellulose, an indigestible carbohydrate. When temperatures drop, some plants demonstrate a limited ability of oxidation whereby long chain carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars and are burned in an attempt to maintain a higher internal temperature. It is known that plants have a higher amount of sugar in the fall than in the summer. (Practical experience discloses that fruits and vegetables left in the refrigerator are "sweeter" than those not so chilled.)
Some group of the species Homo sapiens also well characterize this adaptation. For example, there are entire populations whose ancestors originally hailed from cold climes that exhibit considerable fat-storing ability. (It is also known that lower melanin pigment production also characterizes an adaptive advantage for populations away from the equatorial region that did not need the advantage of sun screening. In these populations, more vitamin D can be absorbed with less exposure to the sun and, because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, the persons making up this "fat storing" population would naturally be able to store more vitamin D than their darker equatorial counterparts.)
Accordingly, previous diets have proven themselves to be inadequate to resolve the long-term treatment of obesity.